


Starlight

by AlNiCa



Series: Starlight [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adoption, I need a nap, M/M, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, author has extreme baby fever, post-VLD, she's adorable though, space dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-02 21:18:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16312859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlNiCa/pseuds/AlNiCa
Summary: “Keith, baby, what’s wrong?”“It says.. I uh, there’s someone in the camp that’s.. related to me. I mean, I put my DNA in when they started creating the family database but I never.. my dad never told me about any aunts or uncles.”“What does it say exactly?”“There’s a little girl. She’s 2 and a half. Her father was killed in one of the attacks before she was even born and her mother died from childbirth. She’s.. she’s all alone, Shiro.”





	Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to First Day Of My Life by Bright Eyes when I wrote this, so I was in a good mood. Enjoy some Space Dad(s).

“Hey! Shiro!”

“Oh, hey Pidge. What’s up?”

“I just got back from Florida and someone wanted me to give this file to Keith. I’m not sure what it is, but can you give it to him when you get home later?”

Shiro was confused. The camp set up in central Florida shouldn’t have a reason for needing to contact the head of Voltron directly. It’s been quiet for about a year though, so he can only imagine why they were choosing to start communications with Keith now.

“Yeah sure, thanks for bringing it. How was the rest of your trip?”

Shiro listened to Pidge ramble on about her time setting up school systems in all the camps. They were more like scattered tiny cities, but they haven’t gotten to naming them just yet. There were 15 around North America, and 37 throughout the rest of the world. Pidge was in charge of most of the Western Hemisphere, and from what he’s heard, she’s doing an amazing job. Rebuilding was slow going, but they were looking to get it done right the first time.

She waved him goodbye as he got to his bike, it was a 10-minute drive from his office building to his small townhouse he now shared with Keith. He shrugged off his jacket and shoes as he got inside. It was pasta night and he could already smell the sauce cooking from the front door. Keith wasn’t in the kitchen when he got in, but quickly figured out his whereabouts when he heard the shower turn on.

Shiro made himself comfortable at the kitchen counter with his tablet and a bottle of some cheap beer they picked up recently. He may be closing in on 30, but he still had low standards for alcohol. When Keith came back to the kitchen he gave Shiro a quick kiss in greeting and they settled in at the kitchen table.

Since ending the war and setting up an (almost) stable coalition that worked for most of the universe, Shiro and Keith got the luxury of settling down a bit. They still had a lot of interplanetary travel, but they ended up getting a place on Garrison grounds to call home. They also enjoyed having the team, Krolia, and Kolivan for neighbors. It was far enough away from the main base, but close enough to the Atlas and Black in case there was an emergency. No one needed to know that they were also renovating Keith’s place in the desert so they can really escape when they need to.

They were just finishing catching up about their days, Shiro’s meetings with 4 new planet representatives wanting to join the coalition and Keith’s training with new cadets, when Shiro remembered the packet Pidge gave him on his way out.

“Oh, before I forget, Pidge gave me this to give to you. It’s from the Florida camp and she wasn’t too sure what it was either but I said I’d send it along for her.”

Keith ungracefully slurped more noodles into his mouth before he wiped off his hands and grabbed the envelope from Shiro.

It took a minute for Shiro to realize that as Keith was reading, he had gone incredibly rigid and eyes started to look confused.

“Keith, baby, what’s wrong?”

“It says.. I uh, there’s someone in the camp that’s.. related to me. I mean, I put my DNA in when they started creating the family database but I never.. my dad never told me about any aunts or uncles.”

“What does it say exactly?”

“There’s a little girl. She’s 2 and a half. Her father was killed in one of the attacks before she was even born and her mother died from childbirth. She’s.. she’s all alone, Shiro.”

His face gave away everything that he was feeling when he looked up. It said that they needed to go get her, that they needed to make sure she was okay, that she was alone, just like Keith had been alone. He didn’t need to explain himself, Shiro already understood.

“Here, let me see?”

Keith handed over the paperwork to Shiro with trembling hands. The paper indeed said that Keith had a fourth cousin that had been orphaned in Florida. Whoever ran the test said one of his parents (his father, for obvious reasons) most likely had a sibling (he either didn’t know about or didn’t talk to, since it was never brought up to Keith), and this was their grandchild. The name of the baby wasn’t listed, nor was a picture. The contact information for the child services at that location was listed at the bottom, which ended up being all they needed for the time being.

Keith looked on the verge of tears, but before Shiro could comfort him he quickly pulled up his data tab and booked them a small plane to head over early in the morning and sent a quick message to the woman assigned to the baby.

Shiro got up and wrapped his arms around Keith, he was shaking but when Shiro whispered they were leaving at 9 am he was able to barely reply with a weak “okay.”

 

 

They were quiet in the morning when they were getting ready. Shiro knew Keith didn’t sleep much the night before, especially since he was on his 3rd cup of coffee. They didn’t talk much about what they’d do once they found her. But it was almost like they didn’t need to. They hadn’t talked about kids yet, Shiro hasn’t even found the time to propose, but he knew he wanted a family with Keith. He didn’t mind if it started a little sooner than they probably planned for. He knew Keith felt the same way.

The morning was cold, even for desert standards, which was appropriate given the mood they were both in. He could feel the nervous energy radiating off Keith’s body as they walked to get to their plane.

Keith barely spoke as they went through all the preflight checks, and it wasn’t until they were coasting through the sky that Shiro dared to bring up the possibilities of how the day would unfold.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I.. don’t even know. What’s her name? What’s she like? Can she talk? What if she doesn’t like me? What if.. what if she doesn’t want to come with us? What if they won’t let her come with us? Will she..”

“Keith, it’s okay. It’s okay to be nervous. I don’t know a lot about babies either, I was an only child too. But the only thing we can do is just take this step by step. We can’t worry about things we can’t control right now. In an hour we’ll get there and we’ll meet her. Whatever happens after, we’ll figure it out together. And, Krolia, Colleen, Coran, and the team are waiting back home, you’re not alone in this.”

Keith paused, looking like he was thinking hard about what he wanted to say next, “do you.. do you even want kids?”

“Me? Well, I do love them. They say the funniest shit. I didn’t get to hang out with them as much since my foster parents mostly had teens, but I definitely want to be a parent one day.”

“I don’t..”

“You don’t?”

“I mean, I do. I uh.. I don’t want to force you to be a parent right now. I know you’re coming with me because you’re my partner, but you don’t need to feel obligated to help. I, I’m sorry I never asked before. This is unfair.”

Shiro had never put a plane on autopilot so quickly. He turned his chair and unbuckled his belt just as fast.

“Keith, look at me, baby. I’m here because I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and because I want to be here. There’s no one else I’d want to potentially raise a kid with. You didn’t need to give me a choice because my mind was made up the moment you told me what the paper said.”

“Promise?”

“Come here.”

Keith unbuckled his belt and all but threw himself into Shiro’s lap. It was a tight fit since he finally grew a bit, but there was still plenty of room for him to be fully embraced by Shiro.

Shiro kissed his forehead, his temple, his cheek, and then finally planted a kiss just slow and tender enough for Keith to fully understand that Shiro was all in, forever.

“I love you, Keith.”

“I love you too.”

 

 

They arrived by noon EST and were quickly welcomed on grounds, being the leaders of the groups that saved the planet sped up entrance protocols. Shiro normally had no problem waiting with everyone else, not wanting to be treated differently, but he knew Keith wanted to get in there as quickly as possible.

Florida was still much hotter, and a lot more humid than Arizona. The entire eastern side of the country was a lot weirder weather-wise in general, one reason he decided on the Arizona Garrison rather than the Virginia base.

The camp had a lot more security set up and buildings intact than others, mainly because it was a more preferred location when the world was under siege. At least that came in handy now that it was time to rebuild.

Keith and Shiro were taken to one of the side buildings in the center of the camp. He quickly realized that this one was reserved for all things kids. Pre-K through 12 classes were going on at the moment, there were some babies crying down the hall in what might be a nursery, and he knew that dorms were being set up on the higher floors for 15 – 22 years olds who are finishing up secondary school and starting the college programs being finalized and had no family to go to. It was one of the most organized locations, aside from the one in Toronto. He still has no idea how they bounced back so quickly, but they ended up taking in more refugees than needed, something he was not going to complain about.

The case worker’s name is Ally and seemed nice enough. He could tell that Keith didn’t trust her, but he also knows that Keith’s time in the foster system was drastically different than his.

She welcomed them into her office. It was one that she shared with three other people, but was on the third floor and welcomed some natural lighting through a huge window. Luckily, they were alone at the moment to go over everything, which was probably for the best knowing Keith.

“Thank you both for coming so quickly. I initially intended to reach out to you directly, Keith, but my boss was talking to Ms. Holt yesterday and jumped on the chance to speed things up. Not the most professional, but at least you’re here sooner.”

“Yeah, I was a little shocked when I opened it yesterday. I uh, had no idea that I had any aunts or uncles, so I didn’t really think anything of it when I put my DNA in the system. I’m glad I did.”

Keith looked less nervous when Ally gave him a genuine, but tired, smile. She seemed to really care about her job, so they were both becoming less anxious as time went on.

“Well, I bet you’d want to just get down to business then? I’ll start with some background details. As the papers said, the baby’s parents were both working for NASA when the Galra initially came. Obviously, NASA isn’t the Garrison, so while they had fighter jets, not many people were able to fly them. Her dad was one of those few, and he was lost in the initial battle. Her mother had no idea she was even pregnant at the time, and somehow didn’t miscarry with all the stress. Unfortunately, we were running extremely low on medical supplies when she gave birth, so when she started to bleed out there wasn’t a lot we could do. She was my friend actually. I uh.. I’ve been taking care of the baby along with the foster parents that chose to live in this building to help out around the clock.”

During her story, Shiro reached out to grab Keith’s hand. He didn’t even look over, his sole focus was hearing about what happened to the baby. And, his cousin he never got the chance to meet.

“Who was I related to? Her mother or father?”

“Her father, his name was Tyler. His partner’s, her mother’s, name was Gloria. Tyler was 24, and she was 22. I have a picture in my file if you’d like to see it?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure, thanks.”

Ally continued on as she handed the pictures she had of the baby’s parents. Shiro could see Keith’s hands shaking as he stole a brief glance at him. This was a lot harder than either of them expected.

“Gloria had already picked out names; if it was a boy they wanted to name him Caleb after Tyler’s dad, but if it was a girl, they wanted to name her Luna after the first mission they got to take together. So, if you couldn’t have guessed it, her name is Luna. Her birthday is November 14th, and she’s about 2 and a half. She looks a lot like her dad, so she actually looks a lot like you Keith. Your dad’s side of the family must have strong genes.”

They both waited patiently for Keith to take everything in. Shiro was doing a lot better processing all this information than he was. It was amazing how much Keith had in common with family he never met. How different both of their lives might have been if he did.

“Can we meet her?” he finally asked after a couple of minutes of absorbing all the new information.

“Of course, whenever you’re ready we can go upstairs to where all the kids are playing. They should have just finished their nap, so we should be good to go get her.”

Keith looked to Shiro then, a quiet check-in. Shiro squeezed his hand before turning back to Ally, “We’re ready.”

 

 

There were 23 babies ages 3 months to 4 and a half years old in this room. They weren’t old enough for pre-k, so they were kept upstairs in a type of daycare. Those that could walk were all playing with blocks in the right back corner with two caretakers, while those who needed more assistance were being taken care of on the other side of the room surrounded by more padding and several rockers. The room had a large window to the hallway, so Keith and Shiro were able to look in and see all the unlucky babies that were orphaned because of the war.

Ally asked them to wait in the hallway as she went in to get Luna. She walked over to a little girl with two ink black braids that went down her back. When she turned they could see that she had the same pale skin and dark eyes as Keith. They assumed her got those genes from his mother, but apparently some must have come from his father’s side as well. Her face was still chubby as a baby should be, and she looked healthy. That was a majority of Shiro’s worries already settled.

He took Keith’s hand quickly, offering some silent support before their life was completely changed. He knew nothing would be the same after Luna walked through that door, and he was surprisingly okay with it. Making eye contact with Keith, he knew that he was okay with it too.

Ally walked through the door holding Luna’s little hand. She looked a little confused when she saw Keith and Shiro in the hallway. Her hand never left Ally’s as Ally made for them to come closer.

“Luna, I’d like you to meet Keith and Shiro. They came all the way here from Arizona to meet you.”

Shiro watched Keith crouch down so he could be eye level with Luna. He tried not to crowd her to make sure she didn’t feel uncomfortable. Meeting new people when you were that young could be scary.

“Hi Luna, it’s nice to meet you.”

Shiro almost passed out from how cute Luna’s little “hello” was.

“I like your braids, I have one just like it. See?”

Keith pulled his braid out of the knot he tucked it in on top of his head. He’d let his hair grow out a lot since the war ended. In case anyone was wondering, Shiro LOVED it.

Luna gave him a small smile when she saw the brain that looked just as dark and silky as her’s. 

Keith looked up then, and he knew. There was no way that they were leaving without her.

 

 

Three days.

It took three whole days to get them to release Luna to them. After that first meeting, they both had fallen head over heels for the beautiful little one. She instantly had them wrapped around her finger, which Shiro knew was going to get them in trouble once she started growing up. By day two she had become so comfortable with them that she fell asleep on Shiro while they were waiting for lunch to be ready. Keith was happy it wasn’t him because he started crying by how happy he was that she was comfortable with them.

They had a bunch of rushed interviews, most of them surrounding their leadership status and whether or not they’d be able to actually be present parents. It took longer than necessary to convince them that they had a large enough family that if something happened she’d always be taken care of. Their entire found family have already confirmed that when they called the night before to check in. Nothing should happen, though.

When they finally got the okay, they went up to the building with a bag for her things, ready to head home. They had been updating Krolia as much as possible, so she had already gotten their spare room ready with a toddler bed, a chest, and anything else Colleen Holt could help her get in the small amount of time. Clothes would have to wait since Shiro and Keith had no idea how baby clothes worked.

Keith knocked on her door, “Hey Luna, how are you this morning?”

“Keef! Shi’o!” she practically yelled when she saw them enter. Shiro was going to die from how cute this kid was.

She ran up to give them hugs and showed them what she was currently drawing. It looked like it might be a flower, but it could also be a dog. Shiro wasn’t about to ask and be wrong.

“Could we talk to you for a second about something serious?”

“Sewus?”

They both sat down on the ground with her as she looked at them confused. She tilted her head a little bit to think about what they could possibly need to have a serious conversation about.

“You know how some of the other kids in your daycare go home to other buildings at night with their mom and dad?”

“Yeah, I on’t hab a mamma or poppa, so I here. Awwy stays wit me sometime.”

“That’s right. Well Luna, we know Ally told you that some people might come and want to be your momma or poppa, right?”

“Yeah, I hope they come soon.”

“I know sweetie,” they both took one of her little hands, “I know you’ve been waiting for a long time. But that’s why Shiro and I are here. We’ve been really enjoying spending time with you, and so we were wondering if you’d like us to be your poppa’s?”

“Yeah!” Her face lit up as she started jumping up and down.

Keith and Shiro instantly felt their eyes water. They didn’t expect to get so emotional from hearing a three-year-old want to be their kid, but here they were.

“That’s great. I’m so glad,” Shiro said, “In that case, you get to come fly with us on a plane to our home today. Some people that are excited to meet you have already set you up your own room and everything.”

“I get my own woom?”

“Of course. And I know you might miss it being here, but there’s another daycare you can go to and meet a bunch new friends. Sound good?”

“Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!! When do we weave?”

“Right now, why don’t we go pack up your clothes while Keith finishes the last of the paperwork.”

“Okay!”

She took Shiro’s hand and guided him back into her little bunk while Keith handed over the official paperwork to Ally. They had already signed the joint custody paperwork. They’d need to update it if they ever got married, but this would work for now.

“Thank you, to you both. She deserves a happy home, and I have a feeling you and Shiro are exactly what she needs.”

“I hope so. You know, you’re more than welcome to come visit her. I know you were a big part of her life until now.”

Keith could’ve sworn he saw a tear but decided not to say anything.

“Thank you, I’d love that.”

 

 

Luna did not like take off. She ended up crying for most of it, but once they were stable Keith ended up letting her explore in the back and she calmed down a bunch. Shiro tried to get the plane home as quick as possible, he didn’t know how much longer the toddler would stay calm.

2 hours into their flight, she ended up falling asleep in Keith’s lap. Shiro leaned over to give his partner a brief kiss, careful not to jostle Luna.

Keith smiled up at him, “Shiro.." 

“Yeah?” He smiled back knowingly.

“We have a baby.”

He laughed, “yeah, we have a baby.”

He subtly patted his jacket pocket as he sat back down, looking for confirmation that the box was still there. He smiled the rest of the way back as he thought about how wonderful his future was looking.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I've been busy, but this popped into my head the other night and I wanted to write it. I'm considering adding to it, but no promises of when or if. 
> 
> Come say hi!  
> Twitter: nax_zela  
> Tumblr: nax-zela  
> Pillowfort: naxzela


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